I Swore
by AJCrane
Summary: Dick Grayson ponders on the words he swore in front of Batman many years ago. He looks at each part and thinks about each person, Bruce, Jason, Tim, and Damian. It is a reaffirmation of that vow. (Violence none) Own them? No, but I try to take good care of them when I do borrow them.
1. Chapter 1

I Swore . . .

By

Dick Grayson

(Ghost Writer AJ)

Part 1

An Oath . . .

What is an oath? The dictionary says an **oath** also called **plight** is either a calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow. Those who conscientiously object to making an oath will often make an Affirmation instead.

I did not make an affirmation. An affirmation can be more easily dismissed and broken. An oath is something sacred. I understood that. I made an OATH, a sacred vow. I was ten when I made the oath . . . in front of a man dressed as a bat, in front of a lighted candle sitting on a table, in the darkness of a cave. That oath was . . . is . . . something sacred. Breaking that oath . . . I would die before I would break my oath.

I often think about taking that oath and I wonder, did Batman ever say such words? I'm sure he did, when he was that angry eight year old kneeling in front of his parent's graves in the pouring rain. That's how I imagined it. I don't know if it really happened that way, he's never really told me, but what he has said suggests it. Swearing an oath to war on all criminals, that's a tall order. I don't know if that's possible. You can't possibly win such a war. You might be able to win battles, but the whole war? Well, I do know one thing. No matter what Bruce thinks, he's not alone. And I will be there for him. In fact, I do remember saying to myself while being Batman I would die for him. If that's not being committed than I don't know what is.

Then there is Jason. Did Jason say the oath? It's unlikely. Bruce told me that Jason wasn't the kind of kid that you could get him to do something, not without promising something in return. All I know is Jason was a troubled kid and filled with a great deal of anger. He didn't always want to obey Bruce let alone the Batman. I had my rebellious moments myself. All teenagers go through them. And though Jason tried to do the right thing in the end, he had been betrayed. He revealed the fact that he was Robin, betraying everything that Bruce ever taught him in that one moment thinking he was going to save the woman who bore him, but in the end, they both were betrayed and it ended in death. I won't talk about when he came back alive. His last memories were of Batman not saving him, and so his own war on crime was to become like them, a criminal, all for the sole purpose in hopes that Daddy Bats would kill the very person who killed him. When you break an oath, what's to stop you from breaking everything else that is sacred?

I never forgot about my oath. If I really wanted to break it, I would have left the crime fighting to Bruce after my parents' killer was brought to justice, but I didn't. I had the chance, but I knew my parents would have wanted me to do something that would make a difference. Being a trapeze artist might make people happy and the audience can be entertained, but to make a difference in people's lives? That takes a commitment beyond just an affirmation. It takes a sacred vow. I had to take that oath otherwise it would have had no meaning.

Did Tim take the oath? I know that Tim had not. For him, being Robin was like a job, a job that he could be fired from. Did "Batman" fire me? Not really. There are many stories out there that suggested that, that made their own interpretation of the events, but no. He did not fire me. He was concerned for my safety. I wasn't ready to deal with Two-Face. And I should have listened. And being a naive kid, I played right into his hands, and almost died. I really didn't blame Bruce telling me that I couldn't be Robin . . . but I allowed my own fears to get the better of me. If I couldn't be Robin than what good what I? He already expressed that he could never replace my father. Did that also mean that he didn't need a son? It's not that he didn't want me to be Robin. I couldn't be Robin until I was better trained to take on someone like Two-Face. I was still a novice and I needed more experience under my belt. And I was totally wrong about the son part. So was he.

Did Damian take the oath? No, Damian did not. It was too late for him to take such an oath because he had already killed. He was a trained assassin. His mother had big plans for him. In truth, she really wanted Damian to kill his own father after he would claim him as his sole heir to the Wayne Fortune. Turns out she needed the money to finance her own agenda. And Damian was as much a pawn, a means to an end. No, an oath such as I took Damian would not have taken it. He would have taken a far different oath. He probably did, but between Bruce, Tim, even Jason, and myself, we were able to show Damian that there are different oaths that are just as sacred, such as the oath of family and love.

So, the oath that I took, how do I feel about it all this time? I still see it as something sacred. And there is more to it. You'll just have to read my next thoughts on this subject as I look at the next part.

. . . To Fight Crime . . .


	2. Chapter 2

I Swore . . .

By

Dick Grayson

(Ghost Writer AJ)

Part 2

. . . To Fight Crime . . .

To fight crime . . . That's an interesting thing to swear to in an oath. A policeman is supposed to fight crime. He swears to uphold the law. Not all police though are good officers. I've run into a few who were just as bad as the criminals. The police officer though has other issues they have to deal with, upholding laws that could even hamper justice. We have what is called juries prudence, which means every man is considered innocent until proven guilty. Even if that person was caught red handed. And even if that person wasn't, it doesn't mean that they committed a crime. It might mean that they were innocent, then again, maybe they weren't. That has to be proven. Those who fall in the gray areas, that's a little hard to determine. Sometimes you might know that someone has committed a crime, but proving it . . . I know a lot of criminals who got off, all because of a technicality, but it's not my place to judge whether they are guilty or not. It's my place to fight crime, to keep crime from happening again, and to protect everyone from experiencing a crime being committed to them.

Now, that's where Bruce and I agree. Though Bruce, he makes it far more of a crusade than I do. Sometimes it carries into his every day life. He will use that Batman scowl to intimidate others, but I saw through that ages ago. He really doesn't want to show just how much he is afraid for those he loves, so rather than express what he's feeling he ends up giving you silence or if you cross the line and hit the mark, you might just get backhanded. It's his way of also protecting himself from feeling that fear. And I can understand that so well, because there is one person in the world who I fear the most. And if I allowed the fear to get to me, then I would play into his hands. The trick is not to play his game. It's not easy, because you either will give into fear or you will cross that line into the territory of the forbidden, and that's where the sacred become profane.

I will do my utmost to fight and I will try to see that those who commit crimes are handed over to the police, but that is all I am supposed to do. Like Batman, I don't want to hurt them so much but to scare them into either betraying their fellow criminals or even confessing, but I won't break them. Scare tactics usually are enough to make the point. Of course, I can't help sticking it to them every now and then with a pun or a snide remark. I find that they make more mistakes that way.

Now Jason, he sees criminals in a different light, since he started out being one, more for survival than real commitment, at least at first. Survival is a situation that can drive others to do either what's right or what's wrong. In his mind, how else was he supposed to eat? Even so, once he started to get some meat on his bones, he figured he could use that to his advantage. He saw criminals as deserving of the pain that they inflicted. Where he got that idea I don't know. Maybe from Batman, but I've never known him to rough up a criminal so badly where he had broke bones. Jean-Paul, that's another story. Like I said, disobeying was the one factor that Batman couldn't deal with very well. I don't know how Alfred dealt with Bruce once he hit his teenage years, but maybe he didn't have to deal with them. At fourteen, Bruce didn't return to school. He traveled, learning what he could to become that 'crime fighter' that he wanted to be, but it wasn't enough until he saw that bat come through the window. For me, it was my parents' deaths more so, and the fact that I wanted to help those who were less fortunate, take away from those who would take away from others, like Robin Hood. Jason, his anger got the better of him, and learning that his father was a thug under Two-Face, I guess he wanted to beat the crap out of the man who killed his father, but that father abandoned him. Go figure. He thought he could do it with more than just intimidation. Becoming that strong arm eventually got him killed. He ran into someone he couldn't beat up. And now with his return, he's worse than he's ever been. I fear it will get him killed again or at least land him in jail.

Tim, he's more like me, but his idea of fighting crime isn't because he lost his parents, at least not at first. He's a hero worshipper and a better detective. I sometimes will miss the most obvious clue right in front of me. I think it's because I over think the problem and see everything as a puzzle that has to be solved. He's also better at using a computer to solve those problems, hunting for the connections. I didn't grow up with that kind of resource. Not really, though Batman always had the latest equipment. It was a simpler time. Criminals have also gotten smarter, and trying to out think them, you need someone who can make connections faster and can see the details. He'd still be my Robin if it hadn't been for one new person who came on the scene that no one expected. And I'm going to have to investigate just exactly how and where he came from. Bruce wasn't known for getting intimate, especially with someone who tried to kill him at first. How in the world did they get Batman's DNA without him knowing?

And that person? Damian. His opinion on fighting criminals, kill them. They don't deserve to live, but being judge, jury, and executioner would only give us vigilantes a bad name. Vigilantes, when did they start calling us that? Batman and I were duly deputized agents, at least in Gordon's and O'Hara's book we were. That changed. Someone pulled the rug out from under us. Someone decided that if we didn't carry a badge or gun, we really weren't agents at all. I think it might have happened after Bane broke Bruce and Bruce chose someone else to take his place as Batman. Gordon nearly lost faith in Batman all because he supposedly changed, becoming more ruthless. Then I took over after Bruce took back the mantle. I wish I could have squared it with Gordo, told him the truth, but that might have meant revealing more than I was willing to reveal. I really wasn't Batman. I was only filling in for him. Bruce really didn't want the mantle back just yet, really wasn't totally ready to face everything. He needed to think things through, but I also needed to say some things to him to clear the air, to understand. Things got better for us after that, at least for a while. Even so, while he was gone, I had my own doubts, but I learned a few things while being Batman. If you're going to fight crime, you have to do it right.

Damian had a lot to learn, even though he had training and skill, and thought of himself as an adult even though he wasn't. He wanted to be treated like one, because of his training, and because he thought of himself as better than anyone else, besides his father. He never experienced the deep tragedy that galvanized Bruce and I to fight crime. Then we lost Bruce, at least that's what we thought at first, but it turned out not to be the truth. During that time, I took over as Batman again, fought for it actually. Even so, Damian's still learning to deal with it, and learning that if you're going to fight crime, there is a wrong way and there is a right way.

And so that brings us to our third topic.

. . . And to stay on the path of right.

For some, that's a lot harder than it looks.


	3. Chapter 3

I Swore . . .

By

Dick Grayson

(Ghost Writer AJ)

Part 3

. . . And to stay on the path of right.

That is harder to do than it appears, but when you swear an oath, there is something that changes inside of you, something that galvanizes your spirit so that you want to do what is right. I have to admit there were times when I wished I could destroy the ones that did me harm, that did Batman harm, but that wouldn't bring them back, and I would be either playing into their hands or turning into them. And that's not what I signed on to being. I was brought up believing in what is right and good. My parents instilled that in me when I was very young. I remember there were a couple of other kids in our little circus group. A couple of clowns had two boys, Jasper and Carl. They were older than me and I remember they weren't very nice. When I was seven years old, Jasper and Carl decided they were going to cause trouble. They wanted to have money of their own to play on the midway, but Pop Haly didn't want to give them any because, well, the circus wasn't doing so great that year. They needed every penny to make certain the animals got fed and everyone else. So, we were set up for a show, and there was also a carnival in the town that we were in. Well, Jasper and Carl, they went to the carnival without permission. Next thing I knew police were showing up at the circus telling us we had to clear out. I later learned Jasper and Carl stole from one of the carnival people and they called the police. Carl and Jasper disappeared. I never knew what happened to them. My parents were there to remind me that getting into trouble could lead to really bad things.

Bruce has told me the same thing in his own way, but by then I was already on solid ground, no pun in tended, since I am a flier. I know right from wrong, and staying on the path of right, just made it more real for me. Though I can't say the same for others.

If Jason had swore an oath before becoming Robin, maybe he wouldn't have done the things that he's done. I mean, it must have been much harder to stay on that path because he had been a thief and he felt so strongly about criminals deserving the pain that they got. Staying on the path of right has to mean for something. I guess Jason wasn't really meant to be who Batman wanted him to be.

Tim, he's bent on proving himself. I know he'll turn out all right. He still has a family to help him on his way or he did. He's now part of ours. He knows being on that path is important and he's doing it his own way.

Damian, he's got a lot to learn. An assassin has their own code of honor. They kill, but they sometimes will kill the killers. Even so, it doesn't make it right. Staying on the path of right means you have to rise above that need to kill. Do I trust Damian with my life? Hell yes, but I have to remind him not to kill for the sake of my life. If it means watching me die, I would rather die than have a murder wrap hanging over his head.

**CRASH**

Sounds like I'll be ending this diatribe soon. I've got my own path to follow. I swore an oath to fight crime and to stay on the path of right. I can't do that if I'm dead.


End file.
